Brazil's Lula seeks bingo ban

Brazil's Lula seeks bingo ban

BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will make a new bid to ban bingo gaming after the Senate rejected his previous attempt in a heavy defeat for the government, a spokesman says.

The move to ban the popular pastime is intended to try to restore the anti-corruption image of Brazil's centre-left government, which claims bingo halls are a front for money laundering and organised crime.

Lula will introduce a bill in Congress to outlaw bingo parlours and slot machines, spokesman Andre Singer told reporters on Monday. He said the president would treat the matter with urgency but gave no date for when the bill would be submitted.

Singer said the bill would have "the same terms" as a decree Lula issued in February which threw an estimated 120,000 workers out of jobs as the government hit back at gambling bosses who sparked its worst-ever political crisis.

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